— Vahé Torossian, a longtime former corporate vice president at Microsoft, joined software development startup Builder.ai as president and chief partner officer.
London-based Builder.ai uses AI and other tech to help companies build and maintain apps across various verticals. The company raised a $250 million Series D funding round in May.
“Today I join Builder.ai with the same thrill and excitement to be part of something bigger than myself as I experienced when I joined Microsoft in 1992,” Torossian wrote on LinkedIn.
Torossian’s stint with Microsoft took him to Paris, Singapore, Munich, and finally at Microsoft’s HQ in Redmond more than decade ago in his first corporate VP role.
Most recently Torossian was a CVP in the Business Applications group at Microsoft. He was also previously CEO of Microsoft France.
Torossian will remain in Seattle as he takes the new role with Builder.
“Builder.ai is redefining ‘developer’ by bringing AI-powered solutions to market, simplifying the complexity at a moment where everything is possible with AI,” wrote Torossian, who is also a passionate rower and recently qualified for the worldwide indoor rowing championship.
— Kelly Rogan, another longtime CVP at Microsoft, joined Reston, Va.-based edtech company Ellucian as chief operating officer. Rogan spent nearly 16 years at Microsoft in various leadership roles, most recently leading the company’s Global System Integrator strategy globally. She previously worked at Ernst & Young and CNA Insurance.
— Patti Brooke, a longtime marketing leader in Seattle, joined Moonbeam as managing director.
Founded in 2020, Moonbeam offers tech consulting services including market intelligence reports, innovation programming, and strategic sourcing. Clients include the Technology Alliance, BioFlyte, WTIA, Microsoft, and others.
“I have been inspired by the caliber of work that the research team at Moonbeam delivers and am thrilled to join in a full-time capacity to continue to work with Nirav Desai and Troy DeFrank, and the rest of the team to partner with our clients,” Brooke wrote on LinkedIn.
— Allen Fawcett, an energy expert and economist who has played a leading role in formulating and coordinating U.S. climate policy, is the new director of the Joint Global Change Research Institute. JGCRI is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland in College Park.
— Seattle venture capital firm Ascend.vc hired Nate Bek as its first associate. Bek previously was a reporter for GeekWire. “He’ll be sourcing deals, conducting diligence, creating original content, and supporting our portfolio companies,” Ascend founder Kirby Winfield wrote on LinkedIn.
— Biomage CEO Adam Kurkiewicz is now head of bioinformatics at Parse Biosciences, a Seattle biotech startup that announced its acquisition of Biomage on Tuesday.
— Space Northwest, a nonprofit that aims to grow the Pacific Northwest aerospace industry, announced the addition of six people to its board of directors: Curt Blake, senior of counsel at Wilson Sonsini and former CEO of Spaceflight; Lisa Rich, founder and CEO of Xplore; Mike Kaplan, vice president of business development at LeoStella; Max Ismailov, founder and CEO of Rocket Propulsion Systems; Mike DeRosa, founder and CMO of Gravitics; and Kristi Morgansen, an engineering professor at the University of Washington.
